Today in Tribe History: August 17, 1933

1933 – Earl Averill ends a nearly 30-year drought for the Cleveland franchise as he hits for the cycle against the Philadelphia Athletics in a 15-4 victory for the Indians.

Averill was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate on the day and drew a walk in getting the first cycle for Cleveland since Bill Bradley got the first one recorded for the organization on September 24, 1903. He doubled and scored in the first and tripled and scored in the third. With one on and one out in the fifth, he notched an RBI-single to right and moved to second on an error by the A’s right fielder, starting a string of eight straight hits by Indians batters. He scored for the third straight time as the next batter doubled him home and he would come around to bat again as the eleventh man to bat in the inning and drew a walk. In the seventh and in his fourth and final at bat, he hit a two-run homer to claim his cycle while increasing Cleveland’s lead to 15-3.

Also on this date in Tribe history:

1906 – Manager Nap Lajoie resigns, but remains with the team as a player. The Naps are in sixth place in the American League.

1920 – Shortstop Ray Chapman dies in the morning hours after being struck in the head by a pitch in a game at the Polo Grounds in New York. He was 29 years old.

1941 – Future Indians first baseman and AL MVP Boog Powell is born in Lakeland, Florida.

1961 – A walkoff walk sends the Indians home with a 4-3 win in 14 innings over the Boston Red Sox. The Indians needed a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning from catcher John Romano just to get to extras. Ken Aspromonte drew the winning walk off of Mike Fornieles to score Bubba Phillips.

1965 – Future Indians outfielder Alex Cole is born in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

1974 – The Indians acquire Rico Carty in a purchase from Cordobo (Mexican League). The former NL batting champion hits .363 for the Tribe over the remainder of the season. He will remain with the Indians through the 1977 season.